


From Scandinavia, With Love

by BananaTonn



Category: Scandinavia and the World
Genre: Gen, fswl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 5,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24551476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BananaTonn/pseuds/BananaTonn
Summary: Everyone knew that WWIII would happen eventually. It was only a matter of time before America ticked off some other nation with nuclear weapons.And it did. America ticked off North Korea and China in January, and almost immediately, everyone’s lives were turned upside down. Everyone began preparing.Sweden happened to be holding his own emergency bag when the sirens began. He called Denmark, who happened to have a bunker from the Cold War. Sweden drove to Denmark’s place with Scania and Sister Sweden. He met Denmark along with Norway, Finland, Iceland, and their respective siblings and relatives. Norway brought a radio with a walkie-talkie, while Finland brought extra provisions.This bunker was far better than what the others expected from Denmark. It had an overstocked kitchen, a large bedroom, a bathroom, and an office space. There was even a beer pantry. The only problem was that there were no walls around the ladder at the entrance, so no one could go near that place until it was safe to leave.The relief was short-lived. The sirens above ground stopped as a huge explosion could be heard from far away. Everyone sat in silence as a shock wave shook the bunker.That was over 5 months ago.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually a rewrite of a fanfiction I wrote back in October. The original will be available on Deviantart.

Sweden woke up. He’s become accustomed to waking up when he heard the winds blow above ground because that was when everyone else would wake up. But he was the only one awake. It must be another one of those days.  
He went to his office to work on dealing with the mouse problem in there. He walked past the beige hallways and turned on the lights. There were only 2 dead mice in the mousetraps he had set out the night before. He turned on his coffee machine and set out to empty the mousetraps when he noticed a drip from the corner of his eye. Sweden focused on the spot that he suspected the drip came from. There was a small crack that he hadn’t noticed before. Before long, another drip fell from the crack. Sweden panicked. He grabbed a cup to catch the drips and closed off his office. He quickly put on gloves and a mask to investigate the leak in the ceiling. The crack was apparently caused by some above ground incident, not mice. The fluid itself was grayish clear. Sweden patched up the hole with tape and took the cup of fluid to his desk for testing.  
After an hour of testing, Sweden discovered that the fluid wasn’t radioactive, but also couldn’t be irradiated by anything. Pieces of the ground that he took from the entrance became stable almost immediately. Sweden proceeded to replace all of the mousetraps with cages and bait.


	2. Chapter 2

Sweden’s cages caught 4 mice the next day. He placed a funnel and tube under the crack to collect more of this mysterious fluid. He started taking notes in a notebook he found in his office desk.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 13:22, 26 MAY 2020_

  * _I will conduct a quick test with this fluid to see if it is worth my time._


  * _I will give the fluid to one of the mice in a dish, inject another mouse with it, and make the remaining 2 the control group._


  * _I plan on building a container to expose these mice to pieces of the ground from the entrance area._



“What’s he doing in there? He’s been there all day,” questioned Norway peering into the office. “Hey, Sweden-”

GET OUT!” Sweden yelled in response, startling Norway. Norway ran away from the office as if Sweden was going to pop out and kill him any second. Sweden went back to work on his little test. However, he ran into a few problems. First of all, he only had crappy plastic containers to work with. Second of all, he watched a side effect of the fluid with his own eyes.

  * _The mouse I injected with the fluid is coughing up blood as I’m writing this._


  * _And it just died. So I guess… don’t inject anything with the stuff. The other mice are fine, though._



Sweden quit brainstorming to take a break and join the other Nordics in the main room. He has been in the office almost all day. He joined Åland, Sister Sweden, and Scania at a square folding table next to the kitchen.

“Hello sweetie,” Åland greeted while walking over to Sweden, “You’ve been away all afternoon! Is everything okay?”

“Is it okay if I show you?” Sweden answered. He led his boyfriend to the office doorway and whispered his plan. Afterward, Sweden took some food from the kitchen to eat for the next few days, because he was going to be in the office for quite a while.


	3. Chapter 3

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 15:45, 30 MAY 2020_

  * _I managed to fill 2 buckets with this liquid._


  * _I figured out a way to set up my containers to make “testing rooms”. My traps also caught 7 more mice during the time it took to figure it out._



Sweden looked down at his “testing rooms”: plastic containers coated in yellow rubber that have been combined to make several large boxes, with sealable flaps to insert food and ground pieces, and a window of tape at the top to easily view the mice.

  * _One problem though: these ground pieces might not give enough radiation to really test this fluid. Maybe I should get pieces from farther up the ladder?_


  * _I got my suit, gloves, and pieces, now it’s time to test this fluid. My “potential radiation vaccine.” My PRV. The one mouse with the fluid is in one room, the 2 control mice are in another. I’ll insert the weaker pieces first. If anything goes wrong, I have a pistol in one of my drawers._



Sweden took several ground pieces from a tightly sealed bin and dropped 3 into each room. The mice in both bins went to sniff the pieces. Luckily for him, the pieces scattered in multiple directions ensuring that the mice won’t escape the radiation.

  * _Now that I have inserted the pieces, I wait. This may take a while._



_18:30_

  * _One of the control mice died. The other control mouse is bleeding from most of its orifices. The mouse that drank the PRV is doing fine, though._



The next day, Sweden went back to his office to check on the experimental mice and prepare the other mice for testing if the first experiment went well.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 14:00 31 MAY 2020_

  * _The control mouse from yesterday has died last night. The PRV mouse is still alive and well._


  * _Could this mean that the PRV made it immune to radiation? If so, for how long? I’ll need to run a few more tests._


  * _Speaking of, I filled 4 more buckets with PRV._


  * _Of these 7 new mice, 3 will be for control and 3 will be given the PRV. I plan on irradiating these mice. I will give the last mouse the PRV, but I just want to see how the PRV affects it._


  * _If I’m correct about the radiation vaccine thing, then maybe I could allow humans to withstand radiation for a certain amount of time. We could all go back to our homes above ground. I’ll be a he_



“Whatcha doing?” Denmark’s sudden appearance made Sweden jump.

“It’s none of your business, Denmark.”

“Come on, you’ve been here for days, I wanna know.”

Sweden let out a huge sigh. “I found this liquid leaking from a crack, and I think it could make it easier for us to go on the surface. So I’ve been testing it.”

“So like it’ll make us immune? And let us go home on the surface? Cool,” Denmark exclaimed and bolted out of the room. 

_That went better than I expected_ , Sweden thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Sweden wanted to take his experiments further with the stronger pieces.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 12:03 1 JUNE 2020_

  * _The irradiated PRV mice don’t seem to be affected by the high amounts of radiation the pieces produced. The control mice, on the other hand, aren’t doing so well._


  * _I caught 2 more mice. I will give them PRV, but I won’t irradiate them. I just want to see what PRV does to them on its own._



Sweden decided to take another break while he waited for an effect. Upon getting up from his seat, he noticed that some of his PRV buckets were missing. He went into the main room and sat at the folding table next to Scania. Scania was clutching his stomach. 

“Is something wrong, Scania?” Sweden asked.

“I don’t feel-”

“Speak up. You know I don’t like it when you mumble.”

“I don’t feel so good,” Scania said firmly to appease his uncle.

“Hmm. Do you think it was something you ate?”

“I feel sick too,” interrupted Norway, “and Denmark made us breakfast, so maybe that’s why.”

Sweden was glad that he ate his own breakfast. He looked around for Denmark. He came out of the bathroom looking as queasy as everyone else.

“Denmark, I’ve heard that your breakfast made everyone here sick. Do I need to take away your cooking privileges again?” Sweden asked Denmark. Denmark became shaky like he was hiding something. 

“Denmark, what happened?” Sweden asked suspiciously.

“Alright, I’ll tell you! I took some of your liquid stuff, and I put it in everyone’s food!”

“ YOU WHAT!?”

“ You said that the liquid would make us immune to the radiation!”

Sweden’s mood quickly soured. “DENMARK, YOU FUCKING IDIOT,” he shouted, “I WAS STILL TESTING THAT SHIT, AND YOU GO AHEAD AND FUCK UP MY EXPERIMENT-”

“Woah, hey,” Norway chimed in, “Maybe this is a good thing? You could say this is the first human test?”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP NORWAY, I WASN’T EVEN DONE WITH THE MICE YET! WHO KNOWS WHAT THIS COULD DO TO YOU! THAT’S IT, YOU HAVE LOST RADIO PRIVILEGES!”

Sweden took the radio from the table and stormed off before Åland arrived to defuse the situation. He set it up on his desk in the office and turned on the microphone.

“Hello? Is anyone there? I want to apologize for any shouting you may have heard. Something came up, and I lost it. Once again, I am so sorry.” His voice was hoarse from his yelling. But the radio was silent.

Sweden tried again. “Hello? Is any-”

“Why hello, Sweden,” said an unfamiliar voice.

“Who are you? Where is everyone else?”

“It’s me, Romania. I’m the only one awake here. You see, a friend of yours gave this grey stuff to Germany and the Netherlands, who gave it to many more people. He tried to give me some, claiming it’s a ‘radiation vaccine’ but I already go out onto the surface regularly. I’m already dead, you know. Anyways, everyone got sick and fell asleep.”

Sweden didn’t know what to say. He wanted to go up to Denmark and fuck him up. Maybe knock him out, break his nose, or attempt to decapitate him with a shovel. The possibilities were endless. However, once he got to the main room, everyone was comatose. 


	5. Chapter 5

Sweden moved everyone to the bunk beds. Boys were on one side, girls on the other. He placed Åland in the nearest bunk to the doorway so that he could check on him quickly. He decided to use this extra time to study the effects of the PRV on his mice. However, he noticed something was wrong.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 13:12 1 JUNE 2020_

  * _I noticed that one of the PRV mice is mutated. I don’t know if PRV or the radiation caused it, or if the mouse was already like this._


  * _This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have told Denmark about my plans._



All Sweden could do now was wait for everyone to wake up if they would even wake up at all. He could only hope that this was the only case of mutation in his mice. He would talk to Romania over the radio, but that got boring quickly.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 11:55 2 JUNE 2020_

  * _The last control mouse has died, and I found another mutated PRV mouse. I know for sure that this mouse wasn’t like this before because it is writhing in pain._



The only other thing that Sweden could do was check on Åland in the bedroom. He was always there, sleeping peacefully, completely silent. Sweden hoped that this silence would end soon.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 12:22 3 JUNE 2020_

  * _2 more mice have mutated, although not as badly as the previous ones. I still don’t know whether radiation or the PRV caused it._



Sweden began pacing around his office more often. Sometimes he would mumble while thinking of every bad thing that could happen after this. Usually, he would stop himself and guess that the silence was getting to his head.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 13:24 4 JUNE 2020_

  * _I’m starting to run out of food in this office. I would get some more from the main room, but that stuff is probably tainted with PRV._



Sweden had started dividing whatever food he had left into little rations and “weighing” them with his hands. He managed to get 7 rations doing this. After that, he had nothing else to do but worry about what could happen to his friends, how they would respond, what Åland would do.

_SWEDEN’S TESTING LOG- 12:19 5 JUNE 2020_

  * _I double-checked all of the mice. They’re all mutated. Even the ones that seem normal at first sight. This can’t be good._



Sweden stopped his writing to check in on his friends in the bedroom. Nothing seemed to change until he heard a rustle next to him. It was Åland.


	6. Chapter 6

“Good morning sweetie,” Sweden greeted Åland as he sat up in his bed.

“Hmm? Oh, good morning honey,” Åland said back.

“How do you feel? You’ve been asleep for a while.”

“I feel weird... like I’m going to throw up.”

“Hm. Well, just go to the bathroom and I’ll get something for you to eat.”

Åland turned to set his feet on the floor. He stood up and collapsed backward onto his bed. Sweden grabbed him by the hands and tried to pull him up. Åland managed to get himself back up but stumbled before leaning on Sweden. Sweden held on to Åland’s arms as he started walking him to the bathroom. Once they got to the bathroom door, Åland grabbed the handle, causing Sweden to let go of him. He opened the door and went inside without Sweden’s help. Sweden, now overjoyed, went back to the bedroom and found Denmark waking up in his bottom bunk and Norway sitting up in his top bunk. Sweden walked to the bunk.

“So, how are you two feeling this morning?” Sweden asked the both of them in a condescending tone.

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” whined Denmark, overdramatic as usual.

“Same here,” Norway responded. Unlike Denmark, he actually sounded like he was going to throw up.

“Well, I was going to go get Åland something to eat once he got out of the bathroom, so I might as well get something for you too,” Sweden said as he watched Finland move around under his blanket. Norway’s gut slightly lurched.

“Oh, Denmark?” Sweden asked, “You’re lucky that the PRV only made you go comatose for about a week. At least I can explain to everyone that you ruined my little experiment.”

Denmark blushed as if he were embarrassed. Norway lurched again, but harder this time.

**_THUD_ **

The sudden sound came from the bathroom. Sweden realized that he had forgotten about his boyfriend in there.

“I’ll be right back,” Sweden told everyone in the room.

As Sweden left, Norway looked down at Denmark and started to say something, but stopped himself.

“Woah, Norway, your mouth is purple!”

“Purple? How?”


	7. Chapter 7

Sweden sprinted to the bathroom and knocked on the door. When he got no answer, he opened the door. In that small square-shaped bathroom was a giant red centipede, writhing in its own blood and scraps of blue, yellow, and red cloth. The centipede looked towards Sweden and let out an ear-piercing screech. Sweden screamed in terror and shut the door, holding it closed. As he felt the creature bang on the door, he heard a loud thump followed by Denmark screaming his name. He frantically ran back to the bed area to find Norway, who had fallen off of the top bunk, and Denmark collapsed on the ground. Denmark was crying, his skin now blistering and bleeding.

“SWEDEN,” Denmark sobbed, “HELP PLEASE, IT BURNS!”

“I’m going to get help, okay!” Sweden responded while watching Norway vomit navy blue fluid. In a corner of the room, he saw Finland curled into a ball in a puddle of mixed light and brownish substances. He was mumbling gurgly perkeles. The girls were watching in horror.

“SWEDEN, HELP, PLEASE!” Denmark screamed louder.

“I’M GETTING HELP!” Sweden screamed back, his voice breaking. He ran back to his office, leaving Denmark on the floor. While running to the office, he spotted Iceland crouching in the main room. Sweden went to ask Iceland what was happening but backed off when he saw that Iceland’s face was splitting in two. Sweden heard his sister rushing to the pantry while gasping in pain. He ran to his office.

In the office, Sweden turned on his radio. He heard screaming, pleads for help, and inhuman screeches. He called for Romania. No answer. After several attempts to get his attention, he overheard Romania fighting with what he could only assume was a bloody abomination. He looked at his notes, his logs, and his rooms of mice. He heard the screams of his friends and broke down crying.

  * _they’re all monsters_



_ it’s all my fault _

_ i just wanted to help _

_ i’m so sorry _


	8. Chapter 8

Denmark has been staring into space for god knows how long. It’s been so long that the really excruciating pain has subsided. His skin was no longer blistering, but it still peeled and bled. It had faded into a greenish-turquoise color. His hair was turquoise, and there were now large fins where his ears were. His muscles were still sore when he tried to stand up. He wobbled, almost falling down a couple of times, and looked around the room. The only person still there with him was Finland, who was struggling to get up. The floor was covered in splotches of maroon and navy blue occasionally broken up with bile and vomit. He looked down. His white Nordic cross was almost blended with the rest of his shirt. 

Denmark followed a trail of navy blue blood out of the bedroom. He kept slipping as the blood hadn’t dried yet. On the opposite end of the main room, a giant slimy navy blue slug-beast was struggling to keep its form. It appeared to be holding Norway’s body, but Denmark couldn’t get a closer look because he was too scared and weak to come any closer. The creature dropped the body and pounced on it, slowly filling it up. Norway sprung back to life once the creature was completely inside him. His clothes were stained blue. He stood up, looked around, and started walking to Denmark while stumbling and lurching. Denmark approached with caution.

“Denmark, what happened? You’re green!”

“What was that… thing!?”

“I… I don’t know...”

The conversation was cut short by the pained grunts of Iceland, who now had 6 limp bloody heads poking out from the back of his neck. Denmark wobbled over to Norway. They pulled each other close to hug. Norway began to feel an ache in his forehead that bore into his skull.

“Sweden? Where are you?” asked an approaching voice. It was Åland. He was shirtless and covered in blood.

“I think he’s in his off-f-f-OW!” Norway yelped, being interrupted by the growing pain in his forehead. The ache turned into sharp stinging as his forehead began to tear open in 3 spots. Denmark winced as Norway screamed in pain. The tears opened up to show blank eyeballs. Dark blue blood poured down his face. Åland began to feel a weird sensation all over his body. He touched his face to find that it was gooey. Denmark panicked even more. Åland’s skin became soft and malleable as his face dripped light and dark fluid similar to Finland.


	9. Chapter 9

The coffee maker in the office made its brewing sounds while Sweden messed with a cup of PRV. He was mumbling to himself in between sobs.

“… I’m a fucking idiot… what was I thinking...”

The coffee maker beeped. He got up to pour himself a cup of coffee. He set the cup of coffee next to the cup of PRV. He looked at his notes.

_ What was I thinking _ , he thought.  _ I turned them into monsters. They’ll hate me. Åland will hate me _ . He took a large drink from his cup while reading. A soapy and weird aftertaste filled his mouth. Sweden assumed that the coffee machine needed cleaning, even though he cleaned it not that long ago. 

* * *

Norway, Denmark, and Åland met up in the main room after bathing and changing clothes. Their wounds have started to heal. Norway’s new eyes now had pupils the same color as his normal eyes. They wanted to figure out what to do next. 

“We should go find Sweden,” Åland suggested. “He must be really scared.”

“Maybe he knows what happened to us,” said Denmark.

“I think I might know what happened,” Åland added, “Sweden told me about his experiment. His fluid did this to us. You ruined his experiment.”

“Wha- RUINED? He told me that it would allow us to go back to the surface. I wanted to help everyone-” Denmark was cut off by Åland’s fist.

“Guys, please,” Norway interrupted, “Let’s just check on Sweden.”

* * *

Sister Denmark got up. She had been drinking in the pantry in an attempt to numb the pain. She looked at her arms to find that she had suffered the same fate as her brother, except with lavender scales and hair. She looked around for the other girls. Sister Norway was sitting in a pool of purple blood, showing off 3 new eyes just like her brother. She was staring at a bright light in the back of the pantry. Sis Denmark’s eyes adjusted to the light and saw that it was Sister Sweden. Sis Sweden had 5 eyes just like Sis Norway except she had one larger eye surrounded by 4 smaller eyes. Sis Denmark swore she saw small wings behind her.

“So… what now?”Sis Norway asked to break the silence. She got up and stood next to Sis Denmark.

“Well, I think we should find our brothers,” responded Sis Denmark, “Let them know that we’re okay.”

“Alright, we should go right now,” Sis Sweden sighed.

The trio left the pantry and entered the kitchen. They saw Denmark, Norway, and Åland heading towards Sweden’s office. 


	10. Chapter 10

Sweden sat crying at his desk. In front of him were numerous pages of notes scattered about. The older notes poking out were neat, with small yet clear handwriting with carefully drawn pictures, while the newer notes on top were nothing but mindless jargon. Sweden himself was mumbling gibberish to himself under the assumption that it was comforting phrases. The remaining mice were dissected for both science and to relieve stress. He got up to grab more mice and stumbled out of his chair. He began to feel sick to his stomach.

_ What the hell _ , Sweden wondered. He guessed that he was hungry and grabbed a pastry he made earlier in the week from a drawer in his desk. He took a bite and took another sip out of his cup. He looked down at his cup and realized that he just drank PRV. Sweden panicked and looked for his actual coffee cup, but then remembered that he dumped it out because it tasted soapy. But then he tasted the same soapy aftertaste from before. Sweden panicked even more.

_ Oh no, no, no, no... I fucked everyone over, even myself… _ He heard footsteps approaching the office.  _ This is it, this is how I’m going to die… or I’m going to suffer forever as a monster… _ The footsteps got closer. There was only one thing Sweden could do now. He grabbed the pistol in the bottom drawer while clutching his stomach. Once he sat back up, he cried softly and pointed the gun to the side of his head.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Suddenly, Åland burst in.

“Swed-”

**_BANG_ **


	11. Chapter 11

Sweden felt nothing. He saw nothing. He heard nothing. Everything was calm… for a minute.

Memories began flashing in his vision, jarringly loud and bright. Sweden felt a rush of emotions as friends and feelings flashed into view and faded as quickly as they appeared. Denmark, Norway, Åland... happiness, love... now gone forever. The sirens, the panic... the trauma of watching friends in pain... nothing more than a distant dream. 

After what seemed like forever, everything stopped. Sweden was in peace and calm again. He floated through the darkness undisturbed. He had nothing to fear. Nothing to lose.No experiments to fuss over or loved ones to watch over.

Sweden was alone.

Suddenly a bolt of energy shot through his body. He saw flashes of white mixed with memories he thought faded away forever. Wait... why was he thinking? He was supposed to be dead.

Sweden opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, but he could make out the crack in the ceiling that dripped PRV. Blurry figures hovered above him while making sounds he couldn’t make out. He felt a fuzzy feeling inside his chest. He was confused. Was he in purgatory? Was he reincarnated? Or was this what hell looked like? He tried to get up but could only lift his hands. One of the blurred figures let out a cry of excitement. Sweden couldn’t understand what was said, but he recognized the voice: Åland. He was lifted up as wires were detached from his chest and head. 

“It’ll be okay... only gone a few hours...” were the only things that Sweden could make out from Åland as he was carried to a bed. He was set down, tucked in, and given his glasses. Sweden panicked and tried to squirm away once he saw his friends’ distorted faces.

“Hey, hey,” Åland said, “It’s okay. I’m still Åland, we’re still your friends.” Åland leaned in to kiss Sweden on the cheek. Sweden only felt a little bit better.

Sweden gained his strength over the next few days. He was finally able to lift his hands high enough to feel the stiff bandages over his bullet wound. He was also able to sit up when Åland came in with smoothies he had prepared for him. Sometimes Norway would come in and watch over him while knitting. Other times Denmark would come in and dart around the room while taunting him. Sis Sweden would tell him what was going on with the other nations. Iceland would come in, his seven new heads giving a range of greetings and unintelligible noises. Finland would stare at him from afar, his entire face wrapped in bandages. Sweden started talking again, although his speech was only mumbles and jargon, bringing plenty of humor to Scania. Despite all of his friends being there, he felt lonely. The fuzzy feeling became a tingling sensation that would fill his body whenever he was completely alone, becoming stronger as the days went on. 

One morning, Sweden woke up. The winds were blowing above again but he couldn’t really get up. Åland happened to wake up at the same time.

“Good morning sweetie,” he said, bright and cheerful. Sweden sat up.

“Åland... I feel weird...” Sweden told him. The tingling became hard to ignore. He remembered that it had been a week since his attempted suicide, and with that realized what was going to happen. 

“Åland... I don’t wanna be a monster, please,” Sweden cried out as Denmark and Norway approached the bed. All Åland could do was comfort him as he started to panic. A splitting pain bore into his lower jaw. He suddenly had no idea who these people around him were, making him panic even more. His eyes went black as their faces began to blur and their words became static. 

Suddenly, darkness. Darkness followed by loud static and Sweden’s pained screeches.


	12. Chapter 12

Sweden came back out of his blackout with his chin, shirt, and blanket covered in blood. Åland was holding his arms down and Norway was backed up against a wall. Sweden could feel an opening under his mouth. He moved his new lower jaw a little and broke down crying. Åland tried to comfort him again.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been going to the surface to grab some yarn for a while, and I feel fine,” Norway said in an attempt to comfort Sweden. He pulled out a blue sweater and added, “I made this for you.”

“Wha- what?” Sweden whimpered.

“I’ve seen your notes,” Åland told him, “Do you think your stuff worked?”

Sweden shuffled to get out of bed and fell on his face. Åland helped him up. They saw Denmark get up from the front of the bed. Sweden proceeded to choke him.

* * *

“So I noticed that some of your notes were… rushed,” said Åland as he walked with Sweden to the kitchen, “What were you trying to write down?”

“The... the stuff… it fused with the mice,” Sweden tried to explain.

“So does that mean it can’t be removed from their bodies at all?”

Sweden nodded. They sat down at the square table.

“And even if we could, the damage had already been done,” Åland continued.

Sweden nodded again, a bit shakier this time.

“So, does that mean we will be like this forever?” Åland asked. Sweden answered by crying in his lap. “Hey, hey, it’s not a bad thing. As long as the fluid works, there’s no reason to cry.”

Denmark dashed into the kitchen. “Hey, we’re going to the surface! Come with us! Let’s get out of this cramped dump!”


	13. Chapter 13

Sweden popped his head out of the bunker for the first time ever. The surface was overcast and dark, and the air was frigid. There were shadows of trees and buildings all around. The dark grey sea could be seen in the distance. The wind was howling. He was followed by Norway, Åland, and Denmark.

“Well, what do we do?” Denmark asked.

Iceland popped out of the bunker. He climbed onto the surface while ducking over the opening to let his other heads come up. One of these heads pointed out an approaching mob in the distance. As the mob grew closer, Sweden could see the leader, a lanky robot with a dark blue chest plate and grayish-brown fake hair. He recognized the leader as King Europe once he saw the familiar gold crown on his head. Besides Europe were two other men in gas masks and protective gear. As they grew closer Sweden saw the flags of Greenland and Faroe Islands on them. 

“Greetings,” Europe said, “May I have a moment with you?” Sweden stepped forward at the orders of his friends. Greenland and Faroe grabbed him by the arms and dragged him off with the mob. The other Nordics followed behind.

* * *

Sweden sat in the back of an old amphitheater. This was a large grey amphitheater where EU members would congregate, and he was in one of the break rooms. This break room was not lively and relaxing as Sweden remembered; instead, it was abandoned and desolate. The walls were cracked and everything was dusty including the chair he was sitting in. He rested his head on the wall next to him. Everything felt unreal to him. His friends weren’t the same friends he fought with and allied with so many years ago. This world wasn’t the same world that he had lived and built upon for years. This moment was occasionally interrupted with small glimmers of hope that maybe this was all just a bad dream, that he would wake up in his normal bed with Åland sleeping beside him. These small glimmers would immediately be snuffed out by the noises from outside. 

Finally, Norway opened the door and called for Sweden. Sweden sluggishly got up and trudged to him. He was led in between Norway and Denmark down the hallway to the center stage. His throat tightened when he saw just how many nations were crowded in the auditorium. He could recognize a few nations, like America, Canada, and England, but these weren’t the same nations he knew a year before. Europe was standing near the center of the stage. Another robot, UN, stood beside him with a taser. Norway stopped with Sweden in front of him. The amphitheater went silent.

“Sweden,” Europe said, “Your friends have compiled all of your notes for us. Care to explain your intentions with this ‘PRV’?”

“I-I wanted to see if the PRV would let us go to the- the surface safely,” Sweden answered. He started rubbing his shaky hands together.

“I see, but Denmark told us this ‘PRV’ would make us ‘immune’. What do you have to say about that?”

“Denmark… Denmark…” This sentence struck a nerve in Sweden. He attempted to lunge at Denmark while screaming, “DENMARK IS A BITCH! HE RUINED MY PLANS! HE RUINED MY LIFE! WE WOULDN’T BE HERE IF HE HADN’T-” Sweden was stopped by UN tasing him on the head. Europe acted as if nothing happened.

“Well then… were you aware of any side effects during testing?

“The side effects on the mice didn’t appear until everyone went comatose. By then it would’ve been too late to fix anything.”

“Okay…” Europe shuffled his pile of notes. He whispered something to UN before saying, “Will you two pull Sweden out for a moment?” Norway and Denmark grabbed on to Sweden promptly and took him back to the break room.


	14. Chapter 14

Sweden was back in the dusty chair with Norway and Denmark by his side. All he could think about was what his punishment would be. Maybe the best course of action would be execution. Maybe he would be exiled to the mountains. Or maybe he would just be set free. None of these options calmed him down. He was still as jittery as he was on the stage. He could now see a look of concern on both of his friends’ faces. Åland came into the room a few times to check on or even comfort him.

After what felt like hours, Åland called for Sweden. Sweden was pulled back to the stage. Europe was waiting in the center.

“Sweden, how long does it take for radiation to kill you?”

“Uh… it takes between a week and 3 months…”

“Very well,” said Europe, before calling out, “Has anyone had any symptoms since we came here?” The room was silent. Europe handed Åland an ankle bracelet.

“This will be kept on for 3 months. If I get news of radiation sickness from ANYONE in this room, it will deliver a shock. If that happens, there will be punishments. Otherwise, you will go free. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir.”

“Åland, will you do the honors and help Sweden put it on?” 

Åland wrapped the bracelet around Sweden’s ankle.

“Åland, wrap it around his neck.”

Åland took the bracelet off his ankle and wrapped it around his neck. He hesitated before clamping the buckle shut. The bracelet was tight around Sweden’s neck.

“Meeting dismissed,” announced Europe. Everyone in the auditorium got up to leave.

“Th- that’s it?” Sweden was confused.


	15. Epilogue

Sweden opened the door to his old house. Åland, Norway, and Denmark followed him in. Everything was dusty. Åland started coughing when he walked in. The house was still in good shape, but the fabric on the chairs and carpet were fading. Norway started dusting off tables and chairs while Sweden focused his attention on a dusty photo frame. In the frame was a picture of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark with the timestamp 29/06/2009. The picture struck a nerve in Sweden. He immediately threw the picture frame at the wall behind him as hard as he could. The glass in the frame shattered on impact and released a piece of paper from the back. It was a postcard with the words “From Scandinavia, With Love” on the back.


End file.
